A pedestrian uses his cross-country skies on 58th Street during his morning commute in New York. New York City public schools were closed Friday after up to 7 inches of snow fell by morning in the first snowstorm of the winter.

Sunlight streams through the windows of a building which caught on fire in Plattsmouth, Neb. and the water sprayed on it by fire fighters froze. Much of the American northeast and the midwest are suffering from sub-freezing temperatures.

A snowy owl sits on a dune at Little Talbot Island State Park in Jacksonville, Fla. One of the Arctic birds has been spotted since last week in Little Talbot Island State Park. It's only the third-ever sighting of a snowy owl confirmed in Florida.